S01.E02: Girl Meets Boy

[Tara Ariano]

Riley and Lucas connect when they are given a homework assignment that requires them to communicate face to face, rather than through texting.

[Derenaspoby]

No offense, but Lucas looks too old for Riley, and Maya seems like a copy of Shawn. Girl Meets World is okay, but I'm not enjoying it like BMW. I really can't ship Lucas and Riley! Lucas is way too... perfect. They're not showing any flaws in his personality. I wish they'd cast a different love interest for Riley.

Oh, and I would also like to see WAY more Cory and Topanga. They're the only reason I'm watching GMW. There was like no Topanga in the pilot, and I hated it!

[WildFlower87]

Wow, that was boring and I didn't laugh once. It felt really short to me too. The Pilot and Girl Meets Sneak Attack were miles better and were actually funny.

[Mountainair]

I think I would like Lucas a lot more of he didn't have that hair! Ugh! I swear to <insert deity here>! If my boys ever ask for a haircut like that I'm taking the razor to them in their sleep. I know it's the style now for punk emo little pimple heads but I hate it!!

Again, the only reason I'm watching is for Cory and Topanga. I have no interest in anything else and pay attention to something else when the others are on screen. The show just isn't in my demographic. My boys are way too young to be interested in shows with real people so these kid type shows aren't on my radar however I have no problem watching BMW re runs everyday. I just wish they could have made this on almost any other network so the adults could have a little bit more pandering to. I mean, I don't know but are the ratings they got last episode broken down into age? I just think if on a different network they could have triple the ratings if they have all the old BMW fan base tuning in. On Disney channel they limit themselves.

Farkle was better this week, less annoying. Where did this name come from? Is it a nickname? I think of the dice game whenever he's mentioned by name.

[Skyfall]

Wow, that was boring and I didn't laugh once. It felt really short to me too. The Pilot and Girl Meets Sneak Attack were miles better and were actually funny.

Might be why this episodes wasn't released online early. It was more drama/real world than comedy, which BMW used to do as well.

[Miss Slay]

I thought this episode was much better than the pilot.

 

Why do all the kids networks stye all the girls hair the same? I remember people having different haircuts at one time...

 

I want more Corey and Topanga.

[WildFlower87]

Why do all the kids networks stye all the girls hair the same? I remember people having different haircuts at one time...

That bugs me too, it's alway's the same long haired wavy/loose curls. I noticed the girls on ICarly and Victorious never wore ponytails either.

[Swirly32]

Why do Riley and Lucas all of a sudden have trouble communicating face to face with each other if they had no problem talking to each other in the Pilot.

[AngeliqaPickles711]

I thought this was much better than the pilot and farkle was toned down some.....

[Primetimer]

Cory steals smartphones from his students, we measure the results!

Read the story

[Bill C.]

For some reason I can't help thinking Sabrina Carpenter's voice went down an octave between the pilot and this episode (which makes Maya seem like a defanged Sam Puckett), but I kind of liked this one.  It was a bit uneven, though; the tonal shifts from seriousness to open comedy weren't consistently graceful (to be fair, the pilot had the same problem), but there was at least more Topanga and less--or at least more controlled--Farkle.  The verdict's still out on Lucas, though--he's just kind of blandly there at the moment.

 

That said I also wish Cory's class was just a little more...in control?  It's probably a fine-line sort of thing, but for some reason that's been bugging me; I know they don't and/or won't go full Feeny with him, since they've established him as a "cool" teacher, but still.

[Dots And Stripes]

That said I also wish Cory's class was just a little more...in control?  It's probably a fine-line sort of thing, but for some reason that's been bugging me; I know they don't and/or won't go full Feeny with him, since they've established him as a "cool" teacher, but still.

Turner still controlled the class! I agree, it's a fine line. I would like to see more from Corey's perspective. I understand the desire to establish the younger set, but I think they over-corrected here. As a combo Alan and Feeny, there's room to see Corey's perspective.

 

I'd like to see Reilly develop an interest other than a boy. I get it, crushes are a big deal at that age, but girls do have other interests. Lucas is too dull for me to care about either. 

 

Maya and Farkle were the highlight. I despised Farkle in the pilot, but here he showed some depth. Sabrina Carpenter is great and Maya already has real problems and now a real hobby. Her relationship with Corey seems more developed too. 

 

I don't buy for a second that Topanga is the mother of those kids. The family dinner scene was just awkward.

[Brian Cronin]

I thought that this was a big improvement on the first episode. It really did hit that nice mix of drama/comedy that BMW was always good at. And thank goodness they toned Farkle down!

[Aliasscape]

Riley must've been the perfect kid, never colored on anything she shouldn't have, since they had no idea what to do with a kid that colors on things other than paper. Plus they must've not let Auggie near crayons as a toddler. Maybe they thought it was something you were not supposed to do.

 

Sabrina Carpenter and to some extent Maya are bugging me this episode though. It felt like Maya's stuck in the circus or something watching everyone around her need her assistance to even behave halfway normal. And she doesn't "care". It's like watching human interaction is something to do so she doesn't get bored and it feels like she pities Riley more than she's her friend. Like it's a chore but if she must rescue Riley from herself, she will. I don't know, the friendship doesn't feel genuine from her side to me at the moment.

 

I'm also feeling like Sabrina Carpenter is biding her time on this series while she waits for her music career to pickup but that Maya's "don't really care" bored attitude is Sabrina's don't really care, kinda bored, about being on the show period. I don't know, something about her this episode felt like well she's a star kid trainwreck waiting to happen.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Aliasscape

[Bill C.]

I'm still torn on Maya.  It goes back to my comment in the pilot about her precociousness bordering on bitchiness, I think; the show's been overt about giving her hidden depth, or at least a veiled unhappy home life, but not terribly graceful about it thus far.  Thus, it tends to butt heads directly against the bitchiness.  It's still early yet, and the show's still at the feeling-its-way phase, so I'm willing to give it a chance to settle down with that.

[KoBnR]

I can understand some wanting more Topanga and Cory but the show isn't about them.

[spanana]

I have to agree if people are watching for Cory or Topanga, I think they are going to be disappointed.  They are a part of the story here, but it's not really their story.  I don't expect that to change, nor really should it since this is a Disney Channel show catering to a different generation.

 

It's early going and I think this show has potential, it's just sort of tonally all over the place for me at the moment.  Also extremely heavy handed on the messages.  Riley all of a sudden doesn't know how to have a conversation with anybody without her phone?  Did she not talk to crush boy in the pilot?  She doesn't know how to listen?  Maya never realized she could draw before?  I think this show needs to do a little bit more showing and not telling.  I feel like it's trying so hard to be Boy Meets World, but it really needs to just let itself settle in to its own thing.

 

Also I like the actors, though "Lucas" is really just a pretty boy blank slate at this point.  But to me it's blatantly obvious that Sabrina Carpenter is older than Rowan Blanchard.   I think the former is 15 to the latter being 12 and I can pretty much see that on screen.  I know Maya is supposed to be more worldly and that is how they get away with it, but I can't really look past it yet.  Also crush boy seems to old for Riley.  The only one who seems in her age is Farkle honestly.

[Dots And Stripes]

I can understand some wanting more Topanga and Cory but the show isn't about them.

I agree, but I think we could see more of them without shifting the focus on the show. Amy and Alan were never the focus on BMW, but I do feel like we got to see more of their family dynamic, even early on. I don't think it's a binary choice where we either have to focus on Riley or Cory and Topanga. The show can tweak the balance. Cory and Topanga could also be a way to bring out Riley's personality. So far, I find her only slightly less bland than Lucas.

[Aliasscape]

I'd also like to see more Riley/Topanga. We get to see plenty of her dynamic with her father but not so much with her mother.

[KaveDweller]

I'd also like to see more Riley/Topanga. We get to see plenty of her dynamic with her father but not so much with her mother.

 

Yeah, same here.  I get that we won't be seeing tons of Cory and Topanga interaction, but it would be nice if we got as much Topanga as we got of Cory.

 

I have one question about the end of this episode.....did Maya actually agree that she was basically going to spy on Riley and report back to Cory about it?

[Bill C.]

It certainly sounded like it, yeah.  I'd like to think the idea was that Cory wants Maya to be able to contact him if something happened to/with Riley, though they went and couched it in overprotective dad-ness (in fairness, it was probably telegraphed from the "feelings" conversation Cory had with Topanga a couple of scenes earlier).

[ramble]

Yawn. That was not too impressive. I've watched plenty of Disney shows with my kids & I don't think this compares all that well. I'm hoping it improves. Without the nostalgia hook I would be out. I don't find the characters that interesting & agree with everyone that Lucas looks too old.

I agree with y'all that said the dinner scene was awkward. It didn't feel like a family but like a random group of people. Cory & Topanga even seemed off. More than anything things feel forced. I want this to be good & I'm willing to give it time to find it's footing, but so far, so mediocre.

[blugirlami21]

This episode was a huge improvement over the pilot.  While I would love for the show to be about Cory, Topanga, and Shawn (I still don't buy for a second that Shawn would not be a huge part of Cory's life), I don't think it can be if it wants to survive on the disney channel.  The disney channel's audience is children so it makes sense that this show is about Riley and Maya.

 

For the most part this follows the formula that boy meets world established with the show being mostly about Cory and his adventures.  Alan and Amy were present but not overtly so.  I do wish that they had kept the older brother instead of the younger.  It's hard to get to know him because he's too young to go to school and we only spend so much time at their home.  I also wish that they had given Topanga something more to do.  Does she work?

 

I do appreciate that Maya is a modernized Shawn and Cory is trying to keep her safe and tethered to the family.  I would like to know more about her home life, it doesn't seem to be ideal.

[EVS]

I thought this was a huge improvement also, but it felt like it was 10 min long. There were a ton of commercials. I have teens so I could relate to the technology issue. Mine are old enough to remember the library, but one of them had to make a call on our landline recently and thought it had a 'send' button. I thought the library scene was really funny.

I like that they gave Farkle and Lucas some depth. I think my issue with Lucas is that he seems like a great crush for Riley, but I don't think they have any chemistry as a couple. I wonder if Farkle will actually end up being more like Topanga than Minkus- kind of odd in season 1 , but eventually Riley's first real love.

Finally, I don't think I like Corey as Riley's teacher. If the show is about a girl learning about the world (although I'm thankful that wasn't mentioned constantly this episode), it's harder to have that happen when her dad is always there interfering and we don't see her interactions with any other adults.

[BigPaul25]

I didn't mind Cory's overprotectiveness when it came to Riley, especially to Maya's "They're just friends" response.

 

We know that Cory knows the mindset of the adolescent boy around girls since we took that journey with him 20 years ago.

 

Yes, there needs to be more for Danielle Fishel to do here.

[BaggythePanther]

I wonder if Farkle will actually end up being more like Topanga than Minkus- kind of odd in season 1 , but eventually Riley's first real love.

I've been getting the feeling that Maya and Farkle might get together somewhere down the road. It might seem similar to iCarly but I think they could get away with it.

[Lord Kira]

Of the three episodes I've seen, this one is my favorite. 

 

I didn't like the Riley/Lucas plot. These characters don't do much for me and this romance is so rushed.

 

What made the episode for me was Cory and Maya. I really like Cory as a teacher and mentor so far (even if I'd rather he put a stop to Farkle time). From his experience with Shawn he knows that Maya doesn't have the easiest home life, but he also knows that those are the kinds of people that dislike charity the most. So I think the final scene is in part him asking Maya to keep an eye on Riley and make sure she's ok, and part him wanting to present his motives as selfish to do a good thing for Maya. 

 

I like how they showed Maya's talent for drawing relatively early in the series, in contrast with Shawn's talent for poetry coming out of nowhere in the original series.

 

Farkle was toned down, and he kind of had a good moment with Maya, but he still feels like an over-exaggeration of Minkus to me. His obsession with Riley and Maya is creepy and I can't believe Cory hasn't put a stop to it in the classroom.

[TOWTooMuchTV]

How old is Augie supposed to be? His dialogue and actions seem like he is a toddler/preschooler but he looks more like 5 or 6. He's a weird character. I would have liked to see Riley crushing on Lucas longer before we rush into them as friends and maybe more. They're only in seventh grade...as the parent of a seventh grader I know there is LOTS of crushing and dating going on, but did it have to be the immediate focus as Riley begins to "make the world her own"? Not my favorite message, but of course I am the parent, not the target demographic here :/

[SmithW6079]

On the interstitials, when the cast was giving a "backstage look" at the show, there's one where Ben Savage and Peyton Meyer are walking together. For a "12-year-old," he's almost as tall as Cory. (Right, 7th graders are 12? And yes, I know that Peyton Meyer is 16 in real life.) I kind of liked that Maya is frustrated that she can't get to him, but it seems like they're trying too hard to make her the complete opposite of Riley. 

 

I was confused about the little brother too. The activities Topanga came up for him seemed too young for him. I hope they start including her more. I loved when she was on "The Dish." If they bring Shawn back, it would be great if he was gay -- which was always the subtext I felt for the character. (Maybe he came out in college.) So far, I think Cory and Maya have had the best interactions.

 

Here's what's bothered me from the start -- would a school allow a parent to teach the same class his child was in? Surely Cory is not the only history/civics/life lessons teacher in the school. I remember from junior high/high school wondering which teacher you'd get for a particular subject, because my school had more than one English teacher or math teacher.

[kia112]

Here's what's bothered me from the start -- would a school allow a parent to teach the same class his child was in?

Definitely.  It happened in a few of my classes -- a couple in elementary school and one in high school.

[Lsk02]

On the interstitials, when the cast was giving a "backstage look" at the show, there's one where Ben Savage and Peyton Meyer are walking together. For a "12-year-old," he's almost as tall as Cory. (Right, 7th graders are 12? And yes, I know that Peyton Meyer is 16 in real life.) I kind of liked that Maya is frustrated that she can't get to him, but it seems like they're trying too hard to make her the complete opposite of Riley.

Peyton is 15, he'll be 16 in November. He does look a lot older than Rowan, though. Hopefully she'll catch up to both him and Sabrina during this break. She turns 13 in the fall.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I thought this episode was much better than the pilot.

 

Why do all the kids networks stye all the girls hair the same? I remember people having different haircuts at one time...

 

I want more Corey and Topanga.

That's how I felt as well. Far less Farkle and less of a laugh track. There still is some work that needs to be done, but it's a vast improvement. Laughed quite a bit through it.

Yawn. That was not too impressive. I've watched plenty of Disney shows with my kids & I don't think this compares all that well. I'm hoping it improves. Without the nostalgia hook I would be out. I don't find the characters that interesting & agree with everyone that Lucas looks too old.

I agree with y'all that said the dinner scene was awkward. It didn't feel like a family but like a random group of people. Cory & Topanga even seemed off. More than anything things feel forced. I want this to be good & I'm willing to give it time to find it's footing, but so far, so mediocre.

Yea I noticed that :(. I think it's partially due to the dang dialogue. The lines that she's had so far are just BAD period. Like she doesn't have a brain in her head. Which is kind of insulting, if you think about it. So sad.

[Fostersmom]

 

Here's what's bothered me from the start -- would a school allow a parent to teach the same class his child was in? Surely Cory is not the only history/civics/life lessons teacher in the school. I remember from junior high/high school wondering which teacher you'd get for a particular subject, because my school had more than one English teacher or math teacher.

 

I had multiple friends who had their parent for a teacher. Especially if it's a very specific class. Two of my friends had dad who where our teachers, both band directors, one junior high and the other high school. Another was in my AP history class and her mom was our teacher. Now what I don't remember is them calling the teacher Dad or Mom while in class. Granted, we all called the HS band director by a very long standing nickname, long before us and after us, so that wasn't a problem, but the other two used Mr./Mrs. last name. 

 

I want to like this show, I loved the original and still watch the reruns, but it's got one more chance and then I don't see me seeking it out on purpose. It's okay, but just not grabbing me. Yeah, I'm well past the target age at 37, but still, it's not great. The casting isn't doing it any favors. Maya and Lucas are way too old to be playing 13 year olds and they seem very, very mature in comparison to Riley and Farkle. 

[Brian Cronin]

I like Rowan, but yeah, the age difference is going to catch up to them pretty quickly, I'd imagine. Then again, Mila Kunis was much younger than the rest of the That 70s Show cast and she never really looked out of place, so maybe I'm being worried about nothing. 

[KaveDweller]

I had multiple friends who had their parent for a teacher. Especially if it's a very specific class. Two of my friends had dad who where our teachers, both band directors, one junior high and the other high school. Another was in my AP history class and her mom was our teacher. Now what I don't remember is them calling the teacher Dad or Mom while in class. Granted, we all called the HS band director by a very long standing nickname, long before us and after us, so that wasn't a problem, but the other two used Mr./Mrs. last name. 

 

Yeah, same thing with my HS.  And they didn't call the teachers Mom or Dad, but there conversations were definitely more casual than with the rest of the class. But I didn't know anyone that happened to in middle school, so maybe younger kids would have a harder time with it?

 

I don't think Maya looks that much older than Riley, but the guy playing Lucas does.  I wish they were playing Lucas as more apart from the girls right now, instead of all this instant bonding.  Cory and Topanga didn't get together right away in the original series, even if they later claimed they'd been together since they were babies.

[KerleyQ]

What made the episode for me was Cory and Maya. I really like Cory as a teacher and mentor so far (even if I'd rather he put a stop to Farkle time). From his experience with Shawn he knows that Maya doesn't have the easiest home life, but he also knows that those are the kinds of people that dislike charity the most. So I think the final scene is in part him asking Maya to keep an eye on Riley and make sure she's ok, and part him wanting to present his motives as selfish to do a good thing for Maya.

 

 

Agreed. I think he felt like it would be awkward to just give her the phone, so he tried to make it less so.  I like Cory's relationship with Maya.  As Riley's parent, he obviously has concerns some times about what trouble Riley and Maya might get into together, but he also has his own friendship with Shawn to draw on, so he knows that the "rebel" kid can also have a good heart and look out for their best friend, and that Riley and Maya can balance each other out (which goes back to him urging Riley to be herself and not try to be Maya).  

 

Here's what's bothered me from the start -- would a school allow a parent to teach the same class his child was in? Surely Cory is not the only history/civics/life lessons teacher in the school.

 

 

Like others, I had friends in school over the years who had a parent as their teacher.  I know when I was in Jr. High, each grade had just one teacher for each subject, so it doesn't seem odd to me if Cory is the only history teacher at their grade level.  There were even two subjects were the same teacher taught both 7th and 8th grade.  

[ladyrott]

It's interesting to me that the verdict here is that kids can have their parents as teachers.  The only people I knew whose parents were teachers were back in Catholic grammar school and they were absolutely NOT allowed to teach their own children so the whole Corey as Riley's teacher thing has been bugging the crap out of me....so glad now I can ignore it.  :) 

 

I know the message was very heavy handed but I liked this episode.  Lucas looking so much older than Riley (and honestly, so much older than 13) is distracting to me.  If the kids were supposed to be 15 and Riley just looked young, that would be one thing, but Lucas in no way looks to be 13 or even 14 years old.  I liked the end where Corey gave Maya the cell phone.  My take on that scene was that he wanted to give Maya the phone so she would "fit in" but knew she wouldn't like charity (like his BFF back in the day) so he came up with the whole "spy on my daughter" thing.  I thought it was sweet of him to give her the colored pencils.  I never thought he would tell Riley to end their friendship and he seems like he truly cares about Maya so it was a thoughtful gesture encouraging her towards something (which he knows she is not getting at home).

[SmithW6079]

It's interesting to me that the verdict here is that kids can have their parents as teachers.  The only people I knew whose parents were teachers were back in Catholic grammar school and they were absolutely NOT allowed to teach their own children so the whole Corey as Riley's teacher thing has been bugging the crap out of me....so glad now I can ignore it.  :)

 

In my school, a teacher would never have taught his own child. I don't see how you could get away without accusations of favoritism. It will always bug me.

[spanana]

 

I know when I was in Jr. High, each grade had just one teacher for each subject, so it doesn't seem odd to me if Cory is the only history teacher at their grade level.  There were even two subjects were the same teacher taught both 7th and 8th grade.

While I can admit that it happens, the part that doesn't really wash for me is that this is NYC.  Mind you Riley and co. seem to attend some sort of fantasy looking NYC school, but most NYC schools are not some teeny little things with only one teacher of a subject per grade.  So it still seems really weird.  But like I said, the school set also looks like no city school that I have ever set foot in anyway.  

 

Then again, this is the same NYC where a tiny girl has the power to push the doors of a subway car open and the subway will then sit there and wait while said girl and her BFF have a heart to heart.   So we should not be expecting realism.

 

My main beef with Cory being the teacher so far is it overly involves Cory in Riley's day to day life.  Cory can't be Riley's Mr. Feeny.  I'd rather see Cory be a teacher at the school and have maybe someone else assume the Mr. Feeny type role.  I get the point of wanting to involve Cory more and the parallels to his own days as a student, but how is Riley supposed to grow up with Cory is literally there to handhold her through everything, even at school.  The girl needs some space.

 

[Kromm]

I only just got around to seeing this episode.

 

In my estimation this was about a dozen times better than the Pilot.  

[tami]

hated this when it first came out, rewatched it and LOVED it afterwards, everything about it was smooth calm and collected. all out enjoyable and the ending when he gave her the phone and colored pencils, ugh just loved it. noticed the laugh track wasn't making my ears bleed this time, because i honestly think they didn't use it :P great episode